Nigerian fuel retailer, MRS Oil Nigeria, on Wednesday stirred controversy when it announced that the petrol it received from Litasco, the Swiss trading arm of Russia’s Lukoil, was substandard.
MRS said it received the oil through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) at the end of January and 37,000 tonnes were delivered to multiple retailers in the country.
“NNPC through their trading arm Duke Oil, supplied a cargo of PMS (petrol) purchased from international trader Litasco and delivered it with Motor Tanker (MT) Nord Gainer,” MRS said in a statement.
The company explained that after delivery into the tank, it was observed that the product appeared hazy and dark. Analysis of the petroleum product revealed that the PMS discharged by MT Nord Gainer had 20% methanol.
Checks by PREMIUM TIMES showed that the global average for methanol content in petrol is between 2% to 3%.
Nigerians have begun to face yet another season of fuel scarcity as the authorities said they were working multiple options in a bid to resolve the substandard fuel problem that has seen national reserves coverage down by 10 days.
Methanol and uses
Methanol is a blending component for petrol that is made from alternative non-petroleum energy sources such as natural gas, coal and biomass. It’s a multipurpose fuel used as a blending component in fuels, or for the production of fuel components. It is in itself considered as a fuel for electric vehicles.
According to a publication of the Methanol Institute, methanol has been commercially blended into petrol at various times and locations since the late 1970s, or for over thirty years of commercial experience and research. Although methanol has been widely manufactured for use in chemical production, it has also been successfully used for extending petrol supplies in many markets around the world.
For conventional engines, methanol use is straightforward when converted to a petrol component called methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), or to diesel component called fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). High concentration methanol blends, such as 85% methanol in petrol, can be used in special automobiles such as the Flexible Fuel Vehicles.
In China, methanol is used as various blends, and in some markets, a blend of petrol and methanol is considered. In Europe and North America, blending of methanol in petrol is limited up to a few percentages, often less than 5%.
If methanol is used at high blending ratios in petrol, alcohol compatible materials in vehicles are needed to maintain stability and safety.
Methanol properties allow automobile makers to design high efficiency engines to compensate for low energy density of methanol. In situations where methanol is applied as automotive fuel with higher blending ratios or as pure fuel, technical adjustments of the existing fuel infrastructure are required.
Standards and Damages
Global methanol demand has increased from 61 to 125 million metric tonnes from 2012 to 2016, even as production capacity of sustainable renewable methanol is only less than 1 million tonnes per year. The growth is said to be driven by Chinese demand.
Most of the current methanol standards related to the automotive sector are available in the US, Italy, Israel, China and India. In Europe, for instance, a maximum 3% volume of methanol is allowed to be blended in petrol under the Fuel Quality Directive and CEN standard.
In the United States, there are limits to methanol content and up to 2.75% with an equal volume of butanol, or higher content of alcohol, is allowed. Similarly, standards specifying fuel methanol blends are now being updated by the Task Force, just as specifications for neat methanol are being promoted.
Like all transportation fuels, methanol is toxic and should not be ingested. Car engines can actually be destroyed if the ethanol content in the fuel used is too high.
To be sure, blending of methanol raises the octane of petrol, and minimizes engine knock, which comes due to excess heat or pressure. So methanol content is essentially good for the engine, if applied with moderation.
But when the mixture comes in high percentages, it lowers the energy density of the fuel to the point where hard starting becomes problematic. It could result in a spike of pressure, and lead to structural failure or even an explosion. Methanol is highly corrosive to aluminum components, and an unregulated amount of the content in petrol can damage vital parts of an automobile like gaskets and rubber hoses.
READ ALSO: How substandard fuel was imported into Nigeria — NNPC
A plausible reason for the inclusion of a high percentage of methanol content in petrol is its relatively cheaper cost, especially when compared to ethanol and petrol. A paper released in 2021 claimed that methanol is the cheapest alternative fuel in India. The paper claimed that the calorific value of ethanol is more than that of methanol, so 1.28 litres of methanol would be required to produce as much energy as a litre of ethanol.
Calorific value refers to the energy contained in a fuel or food, as determined by measuring the heat produced by the complete burning of a specified quantity of the fuel or food.
In recent days, the substandard petrol imported into Nigeria, with 20% methanol content, has reportedly damaged a number of vehicles. In the last few days, there have been reports of complaints from car users whose vehicles were damaged by the off-spec petrol, with many threatening legal actions.
